PAUL George

George played 37 games for Philadelphia last season, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30.7 minutes. He shot 43.9 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from three and 82.0 percent from the line, with a true shooting mark of 57.0. He averaged 1.7 steals and 0.4 blocks against 1.7 turnovers, with a usage rate of 22.9 and a plus-minus of 2.4. Those are the numbers of a second or third option who can still defend the perimeter and hit open threes. The 37 games are the catch. He missed more than half the season, and the Celtics clearly know it, which is why rest days showed up on the report before the regular season was two weeks old.

Boston lost to Detroit on October 20, but George was the reason it stayed close. He scored 38 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 30.6 minutes and finished at plus-9.0 in a game the Celtics lost. That is a sharp jump from his first two outings. Against Charlotte on October 14 he had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 24.1 minutes. Against his old team, Philadelphia, on October 10 he had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 24.8 minutes and a plus-19.0. The pattern is a player getting more comfortable with each game and getting more minutes as the staff trusts his legs. Thirty-plus minutes against the Pistons is right in line with his 30.7-minute average from last season.

George is not on the injury report right now. He was listed Day-To-Day with a rest designation on October 8, the night Boston beat Cleveland without him, and was cleared on October 10. He went back to Day-To-Day rest on October 16 and was cleared on October 17. Both stints were short and both were labeled rest rather than a specific injury. That reads like a plan rather than a problem. The Celtics appear to be building scheduled nights off into his season early, and fans should expect more of them, especially on back-to-backs. The key number to watch is games played. He got to 37 last season. Boston will want more than that in April, and the rest days are how they plan to get there.

George's name has been in the Celtics notes column three times since mid-September. On September 16, a notes roundup grouped him with Robinson and Carter in an offseason report. On October 3, Gary Washburn's Celtics notes covered George along with Tatum, Mitchell, Pritchard and Mazzulla. On October 18, Washburn again had George in a notes piece with Carter and Brown. None of these are trade reports. They are the normal churn of a new veteran on a contending roster, and the fact that his name sits next to Tatum and Brown in those columns tells you where the Celtics see him in the rotation. Treat them as reporting on his role and fit, not as anything that has been decided.

Boston is 3-1 after the Detroit loss, with wins over Cleveland, Philadelphia and Charlotte. George has played in three of those four games and scored in double figures in two. The Celtics need his shooting and his perimeter defense, and the 38-point game shows the ceiling is still there at 36. The schedule will tell the rest of the story. If he plays most nights and the rest days stay occasional, Boston has a real third scorer. If the Day-To-Day tags pile up, the roster will have to cover for him the way it did against Cleveland. For now he is healthy, cleared and coming off his best game in a Celtics uniform.